Vacations, Excuses, and Cheese Lovers’ Heaven

I have been a lousy excuse for a food blogger. September has been a month of crazy. My mom’s house was broken into (she wasn’t home and she’s fine, they just got some electronics). I was house/dog sitting for my in laws for a week. And we went to Omaha for Oktoberfest. All in all it just hasn’t left much time to do the food blogger thing. I’ve been cooking, but it’s been either old favorites you’ve already seen, in a hurry recipes that don’t qualify as actual recipes, or stuff I threw together without a notepad and camera to remember what I did. Example: We’ve been making an effort to up the quantity of fish in our diets, so I’ve been progressively going through using the methods of Cook It Frozen (check it out, it is awesome for the 15 minute dinner) to try out every spice mix in my cabinet on tilapia and other mild white fish. Favorites include Emeril’s Essence, adobo, and cajun seasoning. I have decided that broiled tilapia is good with just about anything and it works because I can use the same method but different spices to please Mr. Picky and myself. Tonight it’s flounder with Mrs. Dash Spicy Chipotle. But still, nothing you can call a RECIPE.

So let’s just call September shot, and I promise I’ll be back in October with new material. ‘K?

Oktoberfest was awesome. Oh the spaetzel! I took advantage of being in a city to pick up some ingredients I don’t normally get to play with–several types of dried mushrooms you’ll be seeing at some point, some wines we can’t get here, and an assortment of other stuff. And on the way home, we went to heaven. Cheese lover’s heaven, that is.

Halfway between Kansas City and Springfield is Osceola, Missouri, home to the Osceola Cheese Store. I’ve been seeing billboards for it every trip up this way for the last four years, but I’ve never stopped. This time I made a point to because, seriously, 200 kinds of cheese in one place? I think I had a foodgasm. We came home with 5 different kinds of cheese, and that doesn’t count the additional cheese and mini sausages we picked up for lunch that day. You’ll be seeing each of them in the near future. If you’re on Highway 13 in Missouri STOP BY. If you can’t, you’re in luck. THEY ARE ONLINE AND THEY SHIP! This is absolutely a must try. So until I return to regular blogging, please enjoy yourself and pick up some cheese!